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[title]Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Prospect Park Bandshell is a lovely venue, and one of our favorites for seeing an outdoor show during the summer. Still, the concert space felt like an odd choice for last week’s triple bill of Ted Leo, Mission of Burma and Wild Flag—which is not to say the show was a disappointment, but it’s definitely weird to see veteran punk-rockers like Leo or MoB in a space where the crowd is genteel and seated the entire time.
RECOMMENDED: Complete guide to Celebrate Brooklyn!
In any case, all three were in fine form that evening. Leo, who typically plays at least one outdoor show per summer, kicked things off with a solo set that included well-known tunes (“Me and Mia,” “Bottled in Cork”) as well as a few new numbers. (This Park Slope resident also appreciated his goofy shout-out to Arecibo, a local car service, as he explained the ease with which he got to the venue that night.) His performance was followed by a blistering set from Boston rockers Mission of Burma, which is touring behind its excellent new album, Unsound. The crowd finally got to its feet for Wild Flag, which put on a characteristically great show (I’ve now seen them six times, and the band never disappoints). The outfit's tight set included every song from its debut album, as well as a few covers; in a nod to the New York audience, the band played Television’s “See No Evil” and Patti Smith’s “Ask the Angels” during the encore.